Fairy Tail: The Mysterious Man of the Sea
by IcarusLogic
Summary: In the year 794, Natsu's team was coming home from a job when Natsu picks up a scent that's similar to Mavis's. He runs after it, and everyone else has no choice but to follow him. When they get to where Natsu's nose has led them, they find a mysterious, 19-year-old unconscious, lying on the shoreline. However they're truly shocked when they find him bearing Fairy Tail's emblem.


"'My feet were tired, so I'm resorting to this method of walking,' she says tiredly," said Horologium. Lucy was inside his small chambers sitting with a blanket around her.

"I was just asking you know," said Natsu. "I didn't think you'd get that tired by only walking for an hour. Maybe you should start working out more."

"'Hey!' She shouts," said Horologium, "I am perfectly fit!"

"Just be thankful you don't have to put up with Evergreen's complaining," Erza said, shuddering from backflashes of their expedition together during the Infinity Clock incident.

Gray felt the ground and said, "Well it _is_ a bit rough, but I don't think it's _that_ bad."

"I say we set up camp since nightfall is in an hour," said Wendy.

Erza nodded and said, "That's a good idea. I'll set up the tent. Natsu, work on making a campfire and getting firewood. Gray, try to catch some fish or something to eat. And Lucy and Wendy, you can help me with the tent."

"She groans and says, 'do I have to?'" said Horologium.

Erza gave her a cold death glare and said, "Would you rather me throw you into Natsu's fire?"

"She screams and says, 'No! I'll help you!'" said Horologium. "And by the way Miss Lucy, I have to go now. Ta ta." he said, disappearing in a puff of smoke, leaving Lucy in the wide open.

"Crap...," Lucy said, "I guess I had him out for too long."

"That had to happen at _some_ point Lucy," Wendy said, smiling.

"Yeah I know," Lucy said, grumbling under her breath.

"Carla and I will take lookout duty!" said Happy, enthusiastically.

"Are you sure?" Erza asked with concern.

"It'll be easy for us since we have our wings," Carla pointed out.

"I suppose you're right," Erza said smiling, "Very well, if there's a single sign of trouble, don't hesitate to come back here at once, okay?"

"Okay then!" Happy shouted out as they began flying away.

As they started flying over the forrest Carla said, "Just so you know, we can't do anything fun or special, this is purely business, alright?"

"Aye...," Happy said groaning.

* * *

><p>"<em>F<em>_ire Dragon Roar!" Natsu shouted spitting fire in every direction._

Lucy dodged all of the embers and flames that went everywhere and shouted out, "Hey! Do I look like firewood to you?!"

"You really should be more careful Natsu," Erza said calmly while wearing her Flame Empress Armor. "If I hadn't protected our base camp from your attempts, the tent would have been burnt to a crisp and Wendy would have gone with it."

"You know I didn't catch all of this fish for nothing," Gray said holding a basket of fresh fish, "If you want to have a decent meal tonight, you should actually try to hit the firewood you pyro."

"Oh yeah?" Natsu said angrily, "Well I doubt you could do any better than I can you pervy snowman!"

"Wanna bet on that lavabrains?" Gray said leaning up in Natsu's face.

"Bring it on!" they both shouted in sync.

"Oh no you don't!" Erza said, punching both of them upside the head, "If you two started fighting, you would demolish our entire camp, and we'd have to start all over from the very beginning."

"Sorry...," they said, hanging their heads low.

Despite the fact that she had them under control, she made Natsu and Gray sit by the edge of the woods while she finished setting up camp herself. Using her Flame Sword, she started a small fire, and set the fish over a small spit to cook while she finished, setting the tent up. Meanwhile, Lucy and Wendy decided to stand off the the side and stay out of Erza's way for the moment, and the thought of coming home from a mission in peace for once, made the two of them shiver, fearing that something bad was about to happen.

Unfortunately for all of them, that foreboding feeling spoke the truth.

"Wendy, what was Grandina like?" Lucy asked, trying to break the tension in the air.

Releasing some of the stiffness in her muscles, Wendy eased into the conversation and said, "Well, if you ever met her, I'm sure she'd love you. She loved all humans in general, but I think she would have been even more happy if she could have met Natsu or Gajeel or maybe even Laxus."

"Well I guess that makes sense," Lucy said, smiling, "I mean they're dragon slayers and really strong ones at that. It would be only natural!"

Lucy and Wendy spent the next hour talking about how their lives had been growing up. Wendy told Lucy all about how she and Grandina had lived in the lived high in the mountains by a small lake. She explained how Grandina made herself comfy right by the lake and how Wendy had needed to make herself a small little cottage so that she wouldn't get cold at night. She had been in training all of her life, and the Sky Dragon had supported her the whole way, and she told her that the most important thing she had to do was believe in herself.

Lucy was fascinated by the story as Wendy told her about the training she went through. When she was finished with her story, Lucy began to tell Wendy about what it was like growing up in the Heartfilia estate. She said that the best parts of her life there were when she was a little girl, for that was when her mom was alive. Her mother had also taught her to believe in herself and to be strong, and before she died, she had given Lucy two of the Zodiac keys, Cancer and Aquarius, so that she could become a celestial spirit as Lucy's tone changed, and she told Wendy of the life she lived after her mother died, the one where she lived in fear of her father. She saids that was the reason she ran away and ended up in Fairy Tail, and she didn't hold a grudge against him anymore since he had truly changed. In the small frame of time where she knew him before he died, he had become a kinder, more caring man and father and worked hard to make his own living. But most importantly of all, even after he died, he had shown her that he truly cared for her and loved her.

Lucy looked over and saw tears running down Wendy's cheeks. "What's wrong Wendy?!" Lucy asked, feeling really guilty for making her cry.

"Oh, it's nothing Lucy," Wendy said, smiling, "It's just such a wonderful story."

* * *

><p>As they ate around the fire that night, Gray and Wendy were talking about <em>his<em> childhood, Erza and Lucy were talking about what kind of job they wanted to go on next, Carla and Happy talked about what they thought the other exceeds did when they got to Earthland, and Natsu sat by himself, thinking.

Gray told Wendy about the horrors he had experienced as a child due to Deliora's destructive paths, and how that led him to meet his master Ur, the ice-make magic master, and his childhood rival Lyon, her other disciple. He also explained that his hatred for Deliora was the only thing that kept him running through the intensive training that Ur gave him. But that hatred led him to blindly go after Deliora one night, and it brought about Ur's death through her _Iced Shell_ spell and just as much destruction was caused as before. He said that ever since that day, he felt so much guilt for that event, but he learned to control himself and he was grateful for the sacrifice that she made to protect him. Wendy felt sorry for him, and tried to cheer him up, saying that the future had many stories for them to unravel.

Erza and Lucy had decided that their next job would be one much more peaceful since they didn't wish to destroy anything again. They were on a record for having not destroyed half the town on their mission this time, and they wanted to drag that out for as long as they possibly could.

Happy and Carla were wondering about the exceeds who had been born in Earthland, and the friends they had made with the other exceeds. They remembered the friend Lily had made during the Zentopia events named Sammy, and Happy began wondering if he could also possess the ability to go into a battle form like Lily and Sammy could. Carla said that it probably wouldn't be possible since Sammy and Lily were both born with the ability to use a battle transformation, leaving Happy a bit disappointed.

Everyone suddenly, noticed that Natsu wasn't talking at all, which was strange for him.

"Hey," Lucy said, "Are you alright Natsu?"

"Yeah you usually aren't this quiet," Happy said.

"Something doesn't smell right about this place," Natsu said.

Concern growing in her, Erza asked, "What do you mean Natsu?"

"I smell a person," Natsu said, "But they smell so similar to Mavis I can't even tell if it's her or not."

"Is it close?" Gray asked.

Natsu nodded in response. "So why don't you go see if it really is Master Mavis or not?" Lucy asked.

"Good idea!" Natsu shouted, jumping up and startling everyone. He ran off in a random direction of the woods leaving a trail of dust behind him.

Erza sighed and said, "Well I guess we should go with him."

"Aye!" Happy said laughing. And they all ran after him to see what his nose had discovered. 

* * *

><p>When they finally caught up to him, they found him on a small beach, staring at a large black mass lying on the sand. They got closer to see what it was, and the closer they got, the more they could see the shock on Natsu's face.<p>

"What's wrong Natsu?" Wendy asked. When he didn't respond, everyone took a careful look at the person lying before them.

Lying in front of them, wearing a leather jacket, a black shirt, and jeans, was a man who looked almost exactly like Zeref. He had the midnight black hair, and similar facial features. However he was a bit taller than the Zeref they remembered from Tenrou Island, and they didn't get a sense of omniscient foreboding from the man lying in front of him. But the resemblance was incredible.

"Natsu," Erza said, trembling at the memories of Zeref, "Who is this man?"

"I don't know," Natsu said removing the man's jacket, "But he isn't Zeref."

"Then who exactly is he?!" Carla exclaimed. No one knew the answer to that.

But to make matters even more confusing, Wendy noticed something on his shoulder, under the sleeve of his t-shirt, as Natsu pulled his jacket off. "Hey," she said, "Pull up the right sleeve of his t-shirt. I think I saw something there."

Natsu did as she asked, but he stopped as soon as he saw what it was that she saw. Everyone strained to see what he had found, and it left everyone in utter shock and confusion.

On his right shoulder, a deep ocean blue, was the Fairy Tail emblem.


End file.
